Process and apparatus for securing temporary intimate contact between immiscible liquids



March 2 1926.

QUIDS L. D. JONES PROCESS AND APPARATUS' FOR SECURING TEMPORARY INTIMATE CONTACT BETWEEN IMMISCIBLE LI Filed Sept. 5 1921 6 M @C m Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEO D. JONES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE SHABPLES SPECIALTY COIIPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,y A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS AND APPABATS FOR SECURING TEMPORARY INTIMATE CONTACT BETWEEN IMMVISCIBLE LIQUIDS.

Application led September 8, 1921. Serial No. 498,388.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEo D. JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Process'and Apparatus for Securing Temporary Intimate Contact Between Immiscible Liquids, 4of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a process and apparatus for bringing immiscible liquidsinto intimate contact by means of high centrifugal force in such manner as to utilize the centrifugal force simultaneously to secure eilicient contact and to prevent substantial emulsifications of the immiscible liquids. The invention also contemplates the separate delivery of the -immiscible liquids treated by or resulting from the operation. f

A-primary purpose of the invention is to eiect a rapid and continuous treatment of one liquid with another in suchmanner as to obtain the treated liquid substantially free from the treating liquid. Y

Important problems of industry are (1) to secure reaction between immiscible liq nids, and (2) to wash a liquid with an immiscible liquid. As common examples from the petroleum industry, may be cited, l(l) the treatin of lubricating oilswith sulphuric acid, for the 'purpose of causing a reaction to take-placebetween the sulphuric acid and certain constituents of the lubricating oil, and (2) the water washing of alkali treated lubricating oils to remove sul-` phonic soap by solution.

In the treatment of a lubricating oil with sulphuric acid as heretofore practiced, the acid is usually added to the oil and thetwo liquids emulsiied by agitation. In order that the reaction may be complete, the agitation must be eflicient, to give intimate contact between the sulphuric acid f and the oil. This intimate contact is accomplished by the formation of an emulsion. The next step is gravity settling to permit the unused sulphuric acid and the sludv'e formed by reaction to settle out of the oil. Such a procedure is satisfactory in regard to the l quality of oil and is ractical in operation unless the viscosity o the oil is very'high, in which case the emulsion of sulphuric acid cable to permit any emuls'iiicatlon to takeV place, inasmuch as the water'whcn emulsified with such an oil cannot be or is ver dillicultly separated by gravity or centri ugal force. Accordingly, the operation is A'sometimes eiected by permitting water to percolate through oi'l. The dropletsv of water, in passing through the oil, dissolve the soap and the water forms a layer that may be easily drawn olf. While one liquid is thus put in contact' with another liquid in such a manner as to prevent the formaf tion o f emulsions, the defects of such an" operatlon are that the work is not efficiently HElssuED done unless the contact is sulciently intimate, with resulting objectionable emulsiication, and under the most favorable conditions considerable oil is emulsified and carried away with the water. Y a

I have found that excellent results may be .obtainedy in treating or washing one liq- 4uid with another by the use of i gh centrifugal force.. so as'simultaneously to effect intimate contact between the two liquids and prevent the substantial formation 'of emulsions'. Moreover, I Ihave found that the above results may be obtained by mechanical actions within the rotorV of a high speed centrifugal apparatus, with the advantage of securing a continuous separate discharge of the constituents involved in the operation.

Advantages of my invention are that the contact between the liquids ma be made as intimate as necessary without t e formation of undesirable emulsions; the period 'during which the liquids are in'intimate Contact is extremely shortcompared with any other process so that secondary reactions of an undesirable character are eliminated or minimized; and the high centrifugal force tends to deliver the treated liquid with less con-v tamination from reaction productslor precipitated materials than in any other process.- In additionto these advantages, obtaine generally by the use of the present invention over previous operations, there are specific cases where. the present invention can be is diicult to separate by ravity or` someused suecessfully in which known operations are impracticable For example, in washing sodium soap from-nahtha with water, the

soap cannot be washe out ordinarily withoutY ver eflicient admixture of water with the nap tha. But the emulsion thus formed times even with highl centrifugal force.

`In .my process the water may be putinintimate contact 4with the naphtha without emulsiication. A Y As another example,some lubricating oils, when treated with sul huricacid 'in the usual way yield a' pro uct that, although free from constituents which will react with` sulphuric acid, is still dark in color because of the charring effect of the sulphuric acid in long contact with the oil.

By my process the period of contact is short and-theoil is of proper color.-

-Someoils cannot be treated with sulphuric acid in practice on account of their high viscosity. In order to secure eicient contact, emulsions are formed whichfare too stable for subsequent separation.

I have found, that by preventing the substantial-einulsiication of acid with `this x 3,Ofphuric acid.

viscous oil and yet securing elicient contact, it is .possible to treat these oils with sul- AThe invention lcontemplates various operations as '(1) the treatment' of a liquid with a -heavier liquid, (2) the treatment of` a liquidwith al` lighter liquid, Vand (3) the treatment of two liquids, one with the other.

I have found that different rotors are desirable to most efficiently practice the foregoing dii'ierent method of treatment; Types v' of these rotors are set out in the following ings in illustration thereof. l

`, In the drawings, Fi .'1 is vaV vertical slectional view 'cfa centri ugal machine having description and the accompanying drawa rotorlad'apted for treating a light liquid with a heavy, as inthe case of washing with water naphtha which'ha's been used for dry cleaning; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a rotor adapted for treating a heavy liquidwith a vlight', as in the extraction ofy J oily matter from an aqueous emulsion by means of naphtha; Fig. 3 is a vertical sec-4 tional view of aA rotor adapted for eEecting complete temporary contact between a heavy I and a `light liquid with efficient. action of each uponthelother, and-Fig. .4Y is a .sec-1 tional view takenfon the line 1x-f4" of Figs.

1,'2and3. y v l l The centrifugal apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a rame 1 in which is a rotor or revoluble bowl 2 suspended by a' spindle 3 and having an axial tubular bottom boss 4 revolublev in a drag 5,-the latterbeing carried by a plug' set in the bottoniuof the frame. Concentric nozzles -7 and 8 are carried by the plug 6, extend into the 1y increas trifugal Laval 1e boss 4 and connect the respective conduits 9 and 10 therewith for delivering two liquids,

as water and naphtha, into the bowl,l againstv the spreader 11 fixed in the bottom thereof, the wings 12 xed in the bowl catching the liqiids and giving them the'desired motion. g

iscs forming dams 13, 14, l5 and 16 arel fixed in the bowl concentrically thereto at intervals along its axis, the discs decreasing .in diameter from the lower to the uppermost W'hen sucieiit quantities of both liquids have Vbeen passed' through the'nozzles into."

the bowl and subjected to centrifugal force, the lighter liquid '17 is compelledlto flow upward over the e ges of the respective discs'or dams in thin layers, in contact with the heavier liquid 18 exterior thereto, the attenuated character of the'cross sections of the lighter liquids ilowing over the/" peripheries of the discs securing the intimate contact of allthe particles thereof with the heavierliquid, by which 'the lighter is thoroughlywas'he'd. After passing the uppermost disc, at the completion of the'was'hing operation, the ,washed liquidandftlre heavier washing liquid with the matter washed out of the-lighter, centrifugally separated in the top of the bowl, are discharged therefrom through the respective outlets 19 and 20 to the respective receptacles 21 and .22 carried by the frame. Y

`The rotor or bowl 23, illustrated in Fig.

2, is varied from the rotor 1 shown in Figi .emulsion by means of naphtha, the liquid to be treatedv and the treating liquid' are fed into the bowl through the `respective nozzles 28 and 29 andare carried upwardly byl cenforce over the inner edges of the dams 24, 25, 26 and 27 in succession. passingover -these dams, the depths of the outer Vheavier liquid 30 is slight, lso that intimate contact is veffected between all of vits particles and the inner treating liquid 1 31 by the actions of the dams yin succession. The ytreated and treating li uids, centrifugally separated in the top o the bowl, are separately discharged therefrom, the lighterliquid carrying therewith the substance re-f,

moved `lfrom the heavier. v Y

The rotor or bowl 32, Aillustratedin Fig.

y'3, has formed therein the annular channels 33 and dams 34 disposedat intervals along its length. the bowl, has formed thereon the annular dams or rings with the annular channelsl e A core 35, disposed centrally in 37 between them, these rings and channels l zles 38 and 39, the lighter liquid flows iniilms or thin layers over the comparatively wide dams or rings 36 in contact with the heavier liquid in the channels 33 and the heavier liquid flows over the comparatively wide dams or rings 34: in thin films or layers in contact with the lighter liquid in the channels 37. There is thus eiected an intimate and complete contact of each liquid with and treatment by the other in passing -to the top of the bowl, where they are separated and separately discharged. o

It will be understood from the foregoing thatI whi`.e all of the particles of one liquid can be brought into contact with another by the foregoing operations, such operations are, b reason of the centrifugal force involve therein, effective toprevent the mixing and emulsiications 'of the liquids.

Having described my invention, I claim l. The process of treating one liquid substance with another immiscible liquid substance of dii-ferent density, which consists in centrifugally stra-tifying saidsubstances in concentric layers and flowing one of said substances in a thin layer or layers in contact with the other of said substances Without emulsiication.

2. The process of treating one liquid substance with another liquid substance` of different density, which consists in centrifugally stratifying said substances and causing one to flow with a thin cross section thereof in contact with the other Without emulsitication, and centrifugally discharging said substances separately.

3. The process of treating one liquid substance with another immiscible liquid substance of different density, which consists in flowing said substances together over a dam or dams in stratified relation and forming one or more Ithin sections in one or more of said substances so as to e'ect substantially complete contact between one or both of said substances.

' l. The process of treating one liquid substance wi-th another of different density,

which consists in centrifugally stratifyingsaid substances, reducinv the cross section of one stratum so as to form a thin ring or rings therein in contact with the other stratum, and centrifugally separating and separately discharging the liquids resulting from the treatment.

5. The process of treating one liquid substancev with another of different density,

which consists in centrifugally stratifyingl said substances and reducing the cross sec- -tion of each stratum so as to form a thin band of each liquid in contact with the other.

6. The apparatus for treating liquid substances which comprises a revoluble bowl having therein one or more dams over which the substances pass in contact in reduced section or sections and means for separating and separately discharging said substances.

7. The apparatus for treating liquid substances which comprises a revoluble bowl having'therein a plurality of axially spaced dams forming passages of different cross sections'and having edges concentric to the axis of rotation over the peripheries of which darn or dams a lighter substance flows in contact with the heavier.

8. The apparatus for treating liquid sub-` stances which comprises a revoluble bowl having therein axially spaced dams in the form of rings concentric with the axis of rotation over the inner edges of whicha heavier substance flows in contact with a lighter.

9. The apparatus fork treating liquid substances of vdifferent densities, which comprises a revoluble bowl having dams therein Y arranged in staggered rela-tionand provided with overflow edges having centers lying in the axisof rotation between which edges.

substances under treatment are carried.

10. The apparatus for treating liquid substances of different densities which comprises a revoluble bowl having an inner surface provided with a pluralit of dams separated by channels in combination with a plurality of dams having peripheries concentric with the axis of rotation and disposed between dams aforesaid.

11. The apparatus for treating liquid substances which comprises a centrifugal rotor, a plurality of inlets discharging into said rotor, a plurality of axially spaced dams within said rotor and over which pass thin layers of one liquid in contact with the other liquid, and means for separating and separately discharging said liquids from said rotor. 12. The process of treating one liquid with another which consists inilowing them in concentric strata while subject to centrifugal force, and repeatedly damming the flow of one of said strata and diverting a thin layer therefrom in intimate contact with the other liquid.

In testimony whereofl have hereunto set my name this first day of September, 1921.

LEO D. JONES. 

